Chapter 00200: Zhu Erniang
# Zhu Erniang
Chapter 200
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 200: Zhu Erniang
This cave was abruptly nestled on the hillside, its shape irregular, with a diameter of at least four zhang at its widest point.
From the perspective of those looking up, the cave was not dark at all; instead, light was seeping out.
This meant that there were even more glowing fire spores inside the cave.
Someone couldn't help but ask, "What is this place? What is that covering the cave, silk?"
The cave seemed to be covered by an entire piece of gigantic brocade, woven with golden, red, silver, and black silk threads.
The patterns were very abstract, yet even under the illumination of the glowing fire, they shimmered with colors, resembling the evening glow at the horizon.
Liu Tong said hoarsely, "It's not silk; it's a spider web, and there are spiders crawling on it."
Only by focusing closely could one see that it was indeed layers upon layers of spider silk.
The weaver must have been well-versed in the art of light.
He Lingchuan felt for the first time that the spider web looked even more noble than silk.
"One can tell just by looking!" the thin man stared intently, "This should be the nest of the spider demon; it hasn't been burned by fire."
Indeed, there were spiders coming and going from this giant cave, in a continuous stream.
He Lingchuan, confused, asked, "I remember that bees and ants live in groups and act in an orderly manner, but spiders seem to be mostly solitary. Why are the spider demons in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest all in groups?"
From a distance, these spiders really looked like ants, bustling about as if each had its own duty.
"What you mentioned is the behavior of ordinary species, but once they become demons, it's different," replied Liu Tiao.
"We have an old saying: 'When one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.' It's a bit of an exaggeration; even if a person attains the Dao, they have nowhere else to go, and chickens and dogs wouldn't know where to fly. But the principle holds true; the same goes for demons. After they attain the Dao, they will quickly have a large number of their kin gather around them seeking protection, and the offspring of demons can easily attain the Dao as well."
He Lingchuan immediately thought of the sand leopards on the west side of Heishui City.
Leopards are originally solitary creatures, but this group of leopard demons lived together, hunted together, and defended against enemies together, indeed turning into a social group.
If leopards could do this, it was not surprising for spiders to do the same.
"But conversely, the sheer number of cave spiders in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest is absurd, which indicates—" Liu Tiao's expression turned grim, "there's likely a great demon inside the nest!"
"Of course."
The guide stared blankly at the giant pit on the slope, his face paling, "This is Zhu Erniang's home! We're done for; we actually walked into Zhu Erniang's lair!"
He Lingchuan turned his head, "This great demon is actually called Zhu Erniang?" A great demon living in a spider nest, aside from the old spider demon, who else could it be? No wonder her surname is "Zhu."
However, what does "Erniang" mean? He thought it was a term used for village wives.
A spider demon skilled in weaving brocade took on a personified name...
"Yes, she is the master of the Stone Forest, the mother of ten thousand spiders."
The guide trembled, "Long ago, these spiders would eat people; cultivators who rushed into the Ghost Needle Stone Forest to exterminate demons never came back. At that time, Zhu Erniang's name could silence the cries of children in Puxiang Valley!"
"We should leave quickly!" His voice trembled, "We cannot stay here long!"
Thus, extinguishing their torches and continuing on was a wise decision, to avoid disturbing the boss of the nest.
Everyone lightened their footsteps and made an effort to soothe their horses, minimizing any noise.
The spiders on the shore gathered around, no longer hissing as before, but quietly crouching on the ground, seemingly afraid to make a sound.
After walking another ten steps, they suddenly noticed several giant rocks lying on the slope above the large cave, the largest and most upright one illuminated by the glowing fire, surprisingly displaying three large characters!
The thin man asked the guide, "What does the stone tablet say?"
"How would I know?" The guide shot him a sidelong glance, "Do I look like an old scholar to you?"
The characters looked somewhat familiar, yet no one could understand them.
The thin man chuckled, "Maybe it just says 'Zhu Erniang.'"
He Lingchuan was even more surprised:
He had seen this type of script in the immortal cave by the Xianling Lake!
The immortal relic he had copied had yet to be deciphered, and the same script appeared in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest.
So the question arose, why would there be ancient inscriptions at the entrance of the cave spider's lair?
Moreover, He Lingchuan noticed that the color of the inscriptions was as bright red as blood under the glowing light.
Since this place was rarely visited by humans, who regularly painted it red? Otherwise, with wind and rain, the characters would have faded long ago.
"The Ghost Needle Stone Forest is truly becoming more and more eerie," Liu Tiao whispered, "It's not suitable to linger; we should leave quickly."
Safety first; she was a woman with little curiosity.
Just as everyone was about to turn around, the soft brocade of the cave suddenly moved without wind, the wave-like beautiful light patterns almost blinding their eyes.
Immediately after, a massive figure emerged from the cave.
Its size was comparable to a small house, with alternating brown and white on its back, eight long legs, and its entire body covered in bristles...
This was a giant spider, dozens of times larger than the small ones crawling on the ground.
The common characteristic of such a massive creature was the overwhelming sense of pressure it exuded visually.
Even Liu Tiao, a bold woman, couldn't help but turn her head.
However, at that moment, the giant spider nimbly flipped over despite its size, the glowing fire illuminating its abdomen, causing everyone in the distance to widen their eyes.
The abdomen of this spider demon was simply too beautiful.
The azure base color resembled the sky, with countless shining white dots resembling stars, and several large glowing points of yellow tinged with red, resembling the main stars of constellations.
The starry sky of a summer night was nothing compared to this.
However, the giant spider immediately landed on all eight legs, hiding its beautiful star map, its appearance becoming more menacing than beautiful.
Countless small spiders gathered around it, as if reporting.
Then, the giant spider began to stride northeast.
It looked massive, but surprisingly made no sound as it walked.
The pit was filled with spiders surrounding it, like stars surrounding the moon.
Only when the giant spider's figure passed over the long slope and disappeared into the forest did the invisible pressure dissipate.
As many as eighty percent of the spiders followed it away, leaving only twenty percent as guards outside the cave.
Only then did everyone dare to speak: "Is that Zhu Erniang?"
The guide wiped his sweat with his hand: "It is her, it must be her!" He had not seen her in person, but he was convinced from the bottom of his heart.
Such a terrifying demon, could there be a second one in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest? The legends were indeed true.
"She went northeast."
The guide's face showed hesitation, "What should we do now?"
"Go around the slope and head north."
Liu Tong said quietly, "Zhu Erniang is heading towards our main force."
The guide looked worried: "Can the army of Panlong City handle her? She is the overlord here!"
He Lingchuan only said two words:
"Of course."
Of course, there was no confidence!
The timing and location were not in their favor, and General Nan Ke's team had none of the advantages.
Even if the army of Panlong City was strong, so what? Even with the enhancement of Yuan power, what difference would it make?
Seeing the stiffness on everyone's faces, He Lingchuan still encouraged them: "We don't need to defeat her; we just need to fight while retreating, and leave the Ghost Needle Stone Forest."
That sounded... quite right.
Liu Tong secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "That's the idea! Let's go."
Unfortunately, the horses ridden by the merchants were suddenly startled by a forest bird, letting out a sharp whinny.
Although the owner immediately pulled on the reins, the sound traveled far in the night, and the spiders at the cave entrance immediately took notice, raising their legs and coming this way.
"Not good, run!" If they were caught by these creatures, it would be a big trouble.
￥￥￥￥￥
A subordinate reported: "General, the spiders attacking the breach have grown larger and are even harder to deal with."
General Nan Ke rushed over to take a look, and indeed, the spiders that were originally the size of cats had grown a size larger, now comparable to yellow dogs.
Although their movements were not as agile as before, the webs they spat out were stickier and stronger.
At this moment, another soldier reported: "The spiders are moving the fire wall!"
"How is that possible?" General Nan Ke was astonished, and upon inspecting the middle section of the fire wall, he discovered that some spider demons were actually spitting webs that were unaffected by the fire, able to attach to the burning giant logs.
Then, other spiders surged up to help pull back.
These spider demons probably weren't afraid of ordinary fire, but they had no intention of crossing the fire wall to engage in close combat with the soldiers.
After all, humans had Yuan power protecting them; it would be a losing battle.
The best strategy was still to break the fire wall and let the spider army in.
General Nan Ke witnessed a giant log stretching ten zhang being pulled by tens of thousands of spiders, which shocked him.
He ordered the archers to climb trees and specifically target the spider demons with arrows.
After all, the number of spider demons that were not afraid of fire was limited; killing one meant one less.
Before everyone could catch their breath, they had to rush to cut down new logs to fill the breach.
Why had these creatures suddenly become stronger and smarter?
General Nan Ke pondered: "It seems the leader has arrived."
He filled his dantian with energy, his resonant voice echoing over the fire wall, resonating throughout the entire valley: "Zhu Erniang, are you present? Please come out for a meeting!"
Before leading his troops, he would always do some homework, and of course, he knew that the landlord of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest was the spider demon Zhu Erniang.
Sure enough, the tidal wave of spider attacks slowed down, and in the night, a massive figure appeared on a small hill twenty zhang away.
"Are you Zhu Erniang? I am General Chu Xuan of Panlong City, escorting a merchant convoy through the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, but we were attacked by the cave spider swarm. What is the reason for this?"
"Ha."
A deep voice resonated in everyone's hearts, "You kill my kin, burn my cave, and betray me first, yet you dare to bite back and harm me? Blood debts must be repaid with blood."
Indeed, it was as such.
General Nan Ke raised his voice: "The ones who burned your lair are the Ba Ling people, not my Panlong army or citizens. If there is a grievance, it has its source; you should seek trouble with them."
As soon as his words fell, two spiders stood at the breach of the fire wall.
The soldiers held their spears at the ready, but they merely stood still.
Zhu Erniang continued, "I ask you, can you tell these two spiders apart?"
Everyone looked, and these two creatures were of equal size, each with twelve shiny eyes, round bodies, and furry, black legs, even the positions of the white spots on their feet were the same.
General Nan Ke fell silent.
He understood Zhu Erniang's meaning; humans saw spiders as if they were all carved from the same mold, and the reverse was also true.
This great demon couldn't be bothered to distinguish who was from Ba Ling and who was from Panlong City; after all, it was humans who harmed the cave spiders, so it was only right for her to seek revenge on humans.
(End of Chapter)